Cantor

Joanne Cantor, Professor Emerita

Although I am no longer involved in regular classroom teaching, I frequently give workshops and lectures to audiences of students, parents, teachers, and mental health and childcare professionals. My research focuses on the impact of the mass media on children, adolescents, and adults, with special emphasis on the emotional impact of the media. The areas of my most pronounced attention are:

Media and fear, including developmental differences in what frightens children and in the best ways of reducing fears
Media violence and aggressive behavior, including ways of reducing the negative impact of media
The impact of media ratings and other techniques of shielding children from inappropriate or harmful content
Using media for educational and pro-social effects, including educational, social, and emotional outcomes

In addition to writing scholarly articles and chapters, I have reached out to general audiences by converting my research findings into a parenting book, “Mommy, I’m Scared”: How TV and Movies Frighten Children and What We Can Do to Protect Them (1998), and a children’s book, Teddy’s TV Troubles (2004). I am currently in the planning stages of an expanded and updated version of “Mommy, I’m Scared.”